Emergencies

EmergenciesPOLIOPublic Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)Polio this week as of 18 October 2017[GPEI]
:: On Tuesday [above], Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, announced with great sadness the death of Dr Mahmoud M Fikri, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) Region. His leadership and dedication to public health, and unwavering support for polio eradication in Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan will be greatly missed. The GPEI extends its sincere condolences to Dr Fikri’s family and his many colleagues and friends throughout WHO and the EMRO Region.

:: Summary of newly-reported viruses this week:…Afghanistan: one new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case reported from Nangarhar province. Two new wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples reported, one from Hilmand and one from Kandahar provinces.
…Pakistan: three new wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples reported, two in Balochistan province and one in Sindh province. See country-specific sections for further details. Syria: four new circulating vaccine derived poliovirus 2 (cVDPV2) cases reported in Deir Ez-Zor governorate, three from Mayadeen district, and one from Boukamal district. One new cVDPV2 positive from a healthy child in Mayadeen district.

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Situation reports on the polio outbreak in SyriaSituation update 17 October 2017
:: Four (4) new cases of cVDPV2 were reported this week— three (3) from Mayadeen district and one (1) from Boukamal district, Deir Ez-Zor governorate.
:: The total number of confirmed cVDPV2 cases is 52.
:: The second immunization round for Raqqa concluded on 13 October. According to administrative data, a total of 144,414 children aged 0-59m were vaccinated with mOPV2. The numbers of children reported vaccinated represented 96% of a revised estimated target calculated according to updated micro-plans.
:: IPV is being administered to children aged between 2-23 months in 2 districts, Raqqa and Thawra. The campaign in Raqqa and Thawra is ongoing.
:: 540,000 Aqua tabs were distributed to families together with vaccination in areas of Rural Raqqa (Salhabiyah, Khilah, Al-Rasheed camp, Hesha, Karama town and camp) during the second Raqqa campaign.
:: New areas were reached this round in the Thawra desert, where 4,550 children (representing 65% of the target) under 5 were vaccinated after a gap of 18 months.

::::::::::::UN OCHA – L3 EmergenciesThe UN and its humanitarian partners are currently responding to three ‘L3’ emergencies. This is the global humanitarian system’s classification for the response to the most severe, large-scale humanitarian crises. Iraq
:: Thousands of Families from Kirkuk Are Returning [EN/AR/KU]
(Baghdad, 17 October 2017): In the past 48 hours, an estimated 61,200 people have been displaced in areas around Kirkuk. Humanitarian partners have dispatched mobile health clinics and are providing hot meals and food parcels to families who have fled. In coming days, partners will be providing 3,000 emergency food rations and hygiene items to families sheltering in public spaces.
“Authorities have confirmed that the majority of displaced families from Kirkuk are already returning to their homes in Kirkuk city,” said Ms. Lise Grande, Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. “Most of the families who are still displaced are staying with families and host communities.”…

Syrian Arab Republic
:: 19 Oct 2017 North East Syria Dashboard – September 2017
…Up to 7,000 civilians remain trapped in Ar-Raqqa city and face increasingly deteriorating humanitarian conditions and protection concerns. Despite the risks of exposure to mines, snipers and military operations, some civilians have fled.
…Displacements from and within Deir-ez-Zor Governorate continued due to heavy fighting and airstrikes. An estimated 63,902 people have been displaced from 1 September to 8 October.
…The overall protection situation for civilians remains of high concern across north-eastern Syria, with ISIL reportedly actively preventing civilians attempting to flee the area.
…Large influxes of IDPs from Deir-ez-Zor Governorate are straining existing capacities and services in IDP sites resulting in increased protection needs.

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UN OCHA – Corporate EmergenciesWhen the USG/ERC declares a Corporate Emergency Response, all OCHA offices, branches and sections provide their full support to response activities both at HQ and in the field.Ethiopia
:: 20 Oct 2017 Ethiopia HRD 2017: Status Update, 19 October 2017
Since the revision of the Humanitarian Requirements Document (HRD) in August 2017, the humanitarian context in Ethiopia has continued to evolve which has led the Government and humanitarian partners to further adjust the HRD requirements. In the food sector the needs have been revised slightly upwards to accommodate an increase in the number of beneficiaries through the inclusion of 4 million former Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) clients in the HRD. In other sectors such as health and nutrition, needs have also continued to increase mainly due to the deteriorating nutrition situation in Somali region, increase in the number of displaced people, as well as the Fall Army Worm (FAW) outbreak that continues to ravage crops throughout the country….